Native backyard reno with fence cladding

Smarties

🖼️

The project:

We moved into a new house with an overgrown, unhealthy and diseased back garden. Old limestone retaining walls were broken and sinking and the wall looked stained and tired. We gutted the whole area and started from scratch with new steel retaining, a freshly painted fence and made a feature out of the existing pergola. The next step was to cover the wall with Merbau cladding and install a large pot for our feature grass tree. We then got stuck into the planting all the natives and had the grass tree installed and finished off mulching with black mulch and cracked pea gravel.

- Materials:

Corten steel garden edging, exterior timber paint in colour bond paperbark https://www.bunnings.com.au/wattyl-4l-paperbark-low-sheen-pre-tinted-solagard-exterior-paint_p0630425 and monument https://www.bunnings.com.au/wattyl-1l-monument-low-sheen-pre-tinted-solagard-exterior-paint_p0630276 colours, merbau fence panels https://www.bunnings.com.au/specrite-1800-x-902mm-merbau-pre-oiled-alternating-slat-fence-panel_p8500281 sealed and stained using intergrain https://www.bunnings.com.au/intergrain-4l-tint-base-naturalstain-timber-stain_p1520420 large pot (approx 80cm diameter) for grass tree, plants - Kunzia Baxteri, Festuca Glauca, Grevilea City Lights, Grevilea Moonlight, Albany Woolly bush https://www.bunnings.com.au/270mm-woolybush-adenanthos-sericea_p3740531 Dianella Tasred https://www.bunnings.com.au/140mm-tasred-dianella-tasmanica_p3813767 Grass Tree (Xanthorrhoea species), Osmocote premium potting mix https://www.bunnings.com.au/scotts-osmocote-50l-premium-potting-mix_p2962143 Clay Pebbles for pot drainage https://www.bunnings.com.au/brunnings-25l-hydro-clay-pebbles_p0683211 Seasol soil wetter and conditioner https://www.bunnings.com.au/seasol-2-5l-super-soil-wetter-and-conditioner_p3010113 Osmocote Native slow release fertiliser https://www.bunnings.com.au/scotts-osmocote-2kg-native-controlled-release-fertiliser_p2961310 Various Reticulation fittings, Emu garden ornaments, roll on Couch lawn and mulches - Black mulch and cracked Pea Gravel

- Tools:

A large range of garden tools were used including shovels, spades, forks, rakes, sledge hammer, wheelbarrows, paint brushes, gloves, watering can, tape measure, Dewalt cut off tool https://www.bunnings.com.au/dewalt-18v-compact-76mm-cut-off-tool-bare-unit_p1078551 and cordless drill https://www.bunnings.com.au/dewalt-18v-xr-compact-brushless-hammer-drill-driver-dcd709n-xj-bare-unit_p0861347 Metabo impact drill https://www.bunnings.com.au/metabo-850w-impact-drill-600782530_p0438766 Ryobi jigsaw https://www.bunnings.com.au/ryobi-600w-85mm-jigsaw-rjs850-k_p6210489 sawhorse set https://www.bunnings.com.au/craftright-folding-metal-legs-sawhorse_p0999776

- Step 1:

Remove limestone garden edging and all plants including root removal.

- Step 2:

Paint fence and pergola then install new Corten Steel garden edging.

- Step 3:

Remove/cap off old reticulation and install new pipes and risers for new retic.

- Step 4:

Install Merbau fence panels to cover old brick wall.

- Step 5:

Prepare area for pot and install pot in final location. Add clay pebbles to pot for drainage.

- Step 6:

Plant all areas except the pot area and cover these areas with black mulch.

- Step 7:

Install Grass Tree in pot, plant around the pot and mulch this area with cracked pea gravel.

- Step 8:

Tidy up lawn with new roll on lawn to areas near edging and check/finalise the reticulation.

MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Smarties. It's wonderful to have you join us and many thanks for sharing your backyard transformation with us.

You've done a fantastic job turning a tired, overgrown backyard into a beautiful native garden. The Merbau wall cladding creates a striking feature, while the grass tree and thoughtfully selected native plants give the space plenty of texture and year-round interest. The refreshed pergola and painted fence tie everything together perfectly.

Thanks again for sharing your project.

Mitchell